To evaluate the effects of shrub litter addition on microbial abundance in sandy dunes of Horqin Sandy Land, shrub litters of Artemisia halodendron, Caragana microphylla, and Salix gordejevii were collected and added to mobile dune, semi-mobile dune, semi-fixed dune and fixed dune at 0 cm (on soil surface) and 10 cm deep in the sand. After one year, the soil bacterial, actinomycetic, and fungal abundance were measured at the litter added sites. Results showed that the abundance of bacteria, actinomycete, and fungi in soils with litter addition was significantly higher than that in soils without additional litter. A. halodendron litter stimulated an increase in soil bacteria and fungi higher than those produced by C. microphylla and S. gordejevii litters; C. microphylla litter stimulated fungi less than the other two litters, but stimulated actinomycetes more than the other two litters. Therefore, A. halodendron litter was considered the best to enrich soil microbial abundance. The overall effect of litter addition on microbial abundance was higher at 10 cm deep layer than that observed at the surface layer. The results suggest that shrub litters can be used as straw checkerboards or nutrient sources to accelerate dune stabilization in sandy land and to promote soil restoration in sandy dunes. Additionally, the results indicate increased soil microbial abundance with shrub litter distributed not only on the soil surface but also underground.

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